A view towards the Alemão favela, one of several favelas inside the Alemão complex. While officially 70.000 people live, unofficial numbers suggest that up to 200,000 people actually live in the complex. In Rio de Janeiro alone, an estimated 1.5 to 3 million people live in the so called Favelas, the slums that were illegally settled in the city due to the lack of affordable housing. Most people in the favelas live with minimal or no public services, and most of these areas are under the de-facto control of drug gangs or paramilitary forces. May 2009.